BERIBES Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones

This is the perennial number-one Amazon best seller in headphones, and the reason is simple: it asks $25 and delivers the three things most people actually need — 65 hours of battery from a 500mAh cell, a comfortable memory-foam over-ear fit at 0.44 lb, and a folding frame with a 3.5mm cable in the box so it keeps working when the battery dies. Owners are consistently surprised by the sound for the price: warm, bass-tilted, perfectly fine for podcasts, YouTube, and background music. Be clear-eyed about what $25 buys, though. There's no ANC — the well-padded cups block some noise passively, and that's it. There's no app, no EQ, no multipoint, no water-resistance rating, and KVIDIO doesn't publish codec support. Highs lack detail, the soundstage is small, and it won't threaten anything in the $100 class. The build is light plastic that owners say handles daily use but won't survive being sat on or dropped hard. If you want a beater pair for the office, travel, mowing the lawn, or a teenager who loses things, this is exactly the right amount of money to spend — and the wired fallback means it's never fully dead. If you care about sound quality as a hobby, spend more.

Best for a do-everything beater pair that costs less than lunch for two

At around $40, the Q20i is the default answer to 'cheapest ANC headphones that aren't junk.' The hybrid noise cancellation genuinely dulls bus rumble, airplane drone, and office hum — not Sony-level, but a real, noticeable hush that nothing else at this price reliably delivers. Battery is absurd for the money: a rated 40 hours with ANC on, 60 with it off, and a 5-minute charge buys 4 hours. You even get features that used to be mid-range perks: multipoint for two devices, a transparency mode, wired 3.5mm listening, and the Soundcore app with a full EQ and 22 presets. The compromises are exactly where you'd expect. Out of the box the sound is bass-heavy and muddy, and while the app EQ helps a lot, treble gets harsh at high volume; most budget rivals without ANC sound cleaner. The build is unapologetically plasticky, there's no case or charging brick in the box, and owners say transparency mode does little for voices. If sound quality is your priority, spend more; if you want quiet commutes and week-long battery for two coffees' worth of money, this is the pick.

Best for First ANC headphones on a strict budget

The Tune 720BT is the 'just give me cheap headphones that last forever' pick: a rated 76 hours of battery — and owners consistently report the claim holds up in real use — for around $50. There's no ANC at all; the closed earcups block a little noise passively and that's it, so commuters who need quiet should spend up on the Q20i or ULT Wear instead. What you do get is JBL's punchy Pure Bass tuning (tameable via the full EQ in the JBL Headphones app), Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint that hands off smoothly between laptop and phone, a light 220g foldable frame, and a detachable 3.5mm cable for when the battery finally dies. Critical listeners will notice the compromises: the midrange gets grainy, treble can turn sizzly at volume, and Consumer Reports-style testing flags the sonic quirks even while rating the overall sound good for the class. The mic also favors background noise over your voice on outdoor calls. Build is basic lightweight plastic — comfortable, but nothing feels premium. As a set-and-forget pair for the office, homework, or travel where charging is an afterthought, it's one of the easiest sub-$60 recommendations around.

Best for Budget buyers who never want to think about charging